We always want spring to be this time of excitement, of renewal, of getting ready for the season ahead without having to deal with the issues that might bring us down. This is the fun time, right?

However, real life tends to not go like that and yesterday we saw Shelby Miller be shut down with tightness in his shoulder. Joe Strauss, noted curmudgeon, tweeted out a remark that the rotation competition had gone from eight pitchers for five spots to, with the removal of Chris Carpenter and the Miller news, six for five.

While that seemed quite the overreaction, especially when Miller was back out playing catch today without any problems and the club was terming the shutdown as temporary and preventative, it does raise some concerns. After all, it was just last spring that Jordan Swagerty had an elbow issue that was first termed mild inflammation and wound up needing Tommy John surgery. The mild injuries of spring don't always stay that way.

Now, often they do. I mean, these guys have kept in shape during the winter but they may not have been going through the same drills and contorting their bodies in the same way or as much as you'd see during the spring. So there's no need to cross Miller off the starting rotation competition list just yet, but it's definitely something to keep in mind. If you want to worry about injuries, I'd still put Rafael Furcal at the top of that list. Miller can be a little behind that.

Since the Cards have finished up dealing with their arbitration-eligible players, it's time to get deals done with those that don't have that leverage. Jon Jay missed eligibility by five days, meaning that he really had to take what the Cards offered him. No financial information has been released, but since he already made more than most of the players in his group, he probably did OK. If nothing else, he's saying that he's happy in public and there's really no reason to doubt him.

We are only two days away from Cardinal baseball, folks, and we know who gets to throw out the first pitch of the exhibition season. Trevor Rosenthal will be taking the first couple of innings on Saturday against the Marlins. (Hey, just a question--how will we know when the Marlins have taken their starters out of the game?) That means Rosenthal gets to make the first impression on the fifth starter race and I'm sure will come out firing.

Rosenthal will be followed up by Michael Wacha, who seems to have the potential to be the breakout star of the camp. Mike Matheny and John Mozeliak like what they see out of him and his maturity could play big dividends for him. He's got Adam Wainwright helping him out with his curveball, which is his third pitch. If he can really corral that, he could be in the big leagues much sooner than we expected. I was surprised to read that there's a chance he'll start at Memphis instead of Springfield. If that happens, he's really someone to keep an eye on as he might be forcing the rotation issue faster than expected.

The BBA has, as a secondary aim, the goal of producing year-end
awards in a similar fashion to the Baseball Writers of America. These
awards can be found at the official site in October with links back to the voters,
ensuring transparency and, most likely, the onset of some good baseball
arguments.